Geeky Birthday Traditions?

Our own Adam Collings just had a birthday yesterday. Hackmodford and TheTJ on our forums have birthdays coming up, and so do I on April 11th. So I'm thinking about how I celebrate my birthday these days. Honey BBQ wings and "easy cheesecake" of course. But I'm thinking specifically of the geek side of my festivities.

A few years ago I started a tradition of having a marathon gaming day to celebrate instead of a party. The first 2-3 years it was a big board game day that I invited people to. But I realized that playing host and teaching games all day was an exhausting way to celebrate my birthday, rather than a truly pleasurable experience. So then I modified it to a video game day that I did by myself, except for a 3-4 hour window during which I invited people over. Then last year I went deeper into seclusion, spending the entire 12-16 hour day playing games by myself and realized, "yep. This is how I want to spend the day." So this April 13th I'll be taking the day off from work and spending about 12-16 hours playing games by myself again.

I've made my own getting older game-athon an annual thing now... it started last year, when I celebrated the Big 4-2 and had a houseful; this year it was just a handful of people - and all my old computers!

So we had an open house on Saturday, people playing cheap Pacman and Space Invaders knock-offs and a few other old favourites from back in the day, and Sunday (because most of it was still set up) I attempted to play through Dizzy (the Ultimate Cartoon Adventure Game).

Call me a wet blanket, if you like, but I stopped doing anything particular for my birthday twenty odd years ago...I'm 41. My wife might get donuts or something for me, or maybe cook one of the dinners I like best, but it's just another day to me. In fact, if people didn't tell me happy birthday on Facebook, I might not even notice it was my birthday....I really am a wet blanket, aren't I?

Naaah...I like doing something nice on my birthday, but its not super important to me, my wife tend to care more about it than I.

I much rather be celebrated on Father's Day (where I get my geek on with computer games ). I think this comes from my mom who preferred being treated special on Mother's Day as opposed to her Birthday.

UKSteve wrote:I've made my own getting older game-athon an annual thing now... it started last year, when I celebrated the Big 4-2 and had a houseful; this year it was just a handful of people - and all my old computers!

So we had an open house on Saturday, people playing cheap Pacman and Space Invaders knock-offs and a few other old favourites from back in the day, and Sunday (because most of it was still set up) I attempted to play through Dizzy (the Ultimate Cartoon Adventure Game).

mikel.withers wrote: In fact, if people didn't tell me happy birthday on Facebook, I might not even notice it was my birthday....I really am a wet blanket, aren't I?

I don't think so. In fact I've been so busy with stuff I nearly forgot about my own actual birth date this year. For me, I remember it because of the fun stuff I plan, for which my birthday, frankly, is just a convenient excuse!

My birthday is firmly wedged between my daughter's and my son's. That means I'm usually trying to avoid spending money, suggesting to my wife that I don't need a gift this year, let's just save our money for our son's birthday. But she doesn't stand for that and always does her best to make something of the day for me. Don't really have any traditions, though I like the idea.

Next year I'll be 40 (what a bunch of old fogeys we all are!) so I'd like to have a proper birthday. Maybe have a few friends and do something geek-related, like A Star Trek theme or superheroes perhaps.

Although, Steve, you've just made me think. As geeks, perhaps 40 isn't the big one. Maybe 42 is the one we should really make a big deal of. We could all wear dressing gowns and make mock pan-galactic gargle blasters.

AdamCollings wrote:Maybe 42 is the one we should really make a big deal of. We could all wear dressing gowns and make mock pan-galactic gargle blasters.

That was my original plan - I happily let 40 slide past almost unnoticed on the pretext of wanting to celebrate 42 properly. Then by the time I turned 41 I'd rediscovered my old computers, and as the collection grew it just seemed an obvious thing to do instead...

But yes, if you want a geek-themed birthday, 42 is the obvious year to do it.

AdamCollings wrote:Maybe 42 is the one we should really make a big deal of. We could all wear dressing gowns and make mock pan-galactic gargle blasters.

That was my original plan - I happily let 40 slide past almost unnoticed on the pretext of wanting to celebrate 42 properly. Then by the time I turned 41 I'd rediscovered my old computers, and as the collection grew it just seemed an obvious thing to do instead...

But yes, if you want a geek-themed birthday, 42 is the obvious year to do it.

I'm sensing some kind of relationship to a certain guide for travelers of a certain area... Am I close?

jorowi wrote:The only tradition I have is that I don't work on my birthday. I always take the day off.

That's what my wife does, and she and I have just become creatures of habit regarding what we do on those days. She goes shopping with any gift cards she hasn't used up yet and I stay home and play video games.

I'm thinking some Gloomhaven to start while my mind is sharp, then to the consoles for Horizon Zero Dawn, Far Cry Primal, Final Fantasy 3/6, Shadow Hearts: From The New World, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Assassin's Creed 2 and then see if I can find the rest of those hidden diamonds in Far Cry 2!

Alright, Paeter. Settle down. Still have one day of work before you get to play.

mikel.withers wrote:But Paeter, how could you forget your birthday? It is the same as Jeremy Clarkson's.

Okay, I had to google that name. Wait a minute. Did YOU just google "people born Aprill 11th"??

No, I'm an (old) Top Gear/The Grand Tour fan, not because I like cars overly, but because Clarkson, May, and Hammond are hilarious. More like a car-themed variety show than car show full stop. Like a V8 smoothy, to them, is something made with a Corvette engine powered blender. James May, in particular, should really connect with the geek-crowd.